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PermalinkThursday, April 21, 2011
California — It’s shaping up to be a very encouraging year for California’s water supply. The Department of Water Resources has increased the allocation from the State Water Project to 80 percent of what has been requested, which is 30 percent higher than last year.
Near-record precipitation and the wet Sierra snowpack have prompted the change, in stark contrast to early 2010, when after three dry years, the initial allocation was a record low five percent. This year’s initial allocation was 25 percent, but that has steadily risen thanks to winter storms.
Currently, the snowpack water content is 167 percent of normal for the date and most reservoirs have more water than average. More than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of farmland depend on water from the State Water Project.
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